John Catsimatidis views on NY PML Sec 105 as yet unknown

Cardinal Andrew Cuomo closes the OTBs on his Easter Sunday in 2012 but not on John Catsidatidis' Easter Sunday in 2012.  And this is because?   
Any fool might think  that NY PML Sec 105 violates the rights of bettors, Italian or Greek, or other secured by NY Const. Art. 1, Sec. 3. Won't someone tell Cardinal Andrew Cuomo he needs the free Opinion of his lawyer, Attorney General Eric Scheiderman.

John Catsimatidis is the personification of the American Dream.
Born in Nissirios, Greece in 1948, John’s parents emigrated to America when he was six months old. With little money, they settled in a rented apartment on 135th Street in Harlem. While his father Andres worked long hours as a busboy, his mother Despina raised their only son.

Growing up, Catsimatidis attended both public and parochial grade schools. His youthful fascination with mechanics and how things worked led him to Brooklyn Tech and then on to NYU as an Engineering major. While in college, a part-time job in a family friend’s grocery store at 137th & Broadway gave him to impetus open a small grocery at Broadway and 99th Street in Manhattan.

This small market was a success and became the cornerstone of Red Apple, a company that would acquire Gristedes Supermarkets in 1986. Sensing opportunity John branched out into a variety of other business enterprises, including; an oil-refinery, a firm that leases corporate jets, 400 convenience stores in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, the Hellenic Times newspaper, and real estate holdings in New York, New Jersey and Florida.

Over the past four decades, a small supermarket on Manhattan’s Upper Westside has grown into diversified holdings that generate annual sales of over $3 billion and employ over 8,000 individuals.

John is heavily involved in many New York City charities and through the years has generously donated time, money and leadership skills to groups such as the Boy Scouts of America, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Sinergie and the Police Athletic League - every year he and his wife Margo sponsor the PAL Holiday Party benefiting hundreds of under-privileged children. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation.

As members of the Westside Chamber of Commerce in the 1980's John and his wife Margo worked to turn a small block party into one of the city's largest annual public events - the Columbus Avenue Festival, which has been attended by millions of New Yorkers over the years.

Knowing that a quality education empowers individuals and gives them the tools to reach their full potential, John founded and Co-Chairs the Brooklyn Tech Endowment Foundation, oversees the John Catsimatidis Scholarship Fund of the New York University Stern School of Business and sits on the Board of Trustees of the New School’s Milano School for Management and Urban Policy and the Executive Committee of the Columbia University Medical Center Board of Visitors.

John’s wife Margo is also active with many groups including the Alzheimer’s Foundation, Parkinson’s Foundation, the Tolstoy Foundation and plans the annual Police Athletic League Holiday Party.

(For a complete listing of the charities John supports please click on the Charities link.)

John and his wife Margo live on Manhattan’s Upper Eastside with their two teenage children.
The Catsimatidis’ are members of the Greek Orthodox Church.